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Olives, almonds, jet-lag and hair

It’s Friday again. Just sitting down to write my weekly blog from sunny Spain, after 2 long days of travel and a jet-lagged day of settling in. At least the trip seemed shorter this time, since I was able to sleep during 2 of the 3 flights!


Here are my “secrets” to help your flight seem shorter and to feel more rested when you arrive:

  1. Get yourself some earplugs or put on a disconnected headset to muffle that crying baby or the chatty people who don’t realize they’re keeping others awake. If you’re a person who falls asleep to music, you could try playing a soothing quiet tune through the headset.
  2. Use a mask to shade your eyes (this one wasn’t my idea… Air France provides these on overnight flights!). Darkness tells your brain it’s time to sleep.
  3. Use a neck pillow to prevent your head from falling to one side when you fall asleep (a sudden shift in head position can easily wake you and a bad head angle is a recipe for a stiff neck!)So, not rocket science, but little things can make a difference in how you feel when you arrive, if you think to prepare ahead!


My other tip is to set your watch to your arrival time zone when you’re halfway through your longest flight. I find it works best if you do this just before or after you take your nap. For me, it seems I can fool myself into changing time zones more easily if there’s sleep involved, since I never know how long I’ve slept until I look at the time! Might not work for you, but it helped me…


And, just to follow up with my “going grey” project— above is my photo of “haircut #2”, taken on our balcony overlooking the Mediterranean. (Love it here!) I’m surprised that I look less grey than I expected, though… I guess it’s like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’ll get! Maybe I didn’t need to go quite as short as I did but it will be an easy “do” to keep up with while we’re visiting Espaňa.


I did have a question from a reader, though…what if you don’t want to cut your hair short to speed up the elimination of the dyed part? Two ideas if that’s you… First, if you’re mostly grey, you could colour the top layer platinum to match the roots, either all of the top or streaks/highlights depending on how grey your roots are. Platinum is a popular colour these days, even among younger women. Quite striking, actually! Leaving the underneath part would create a mixture of colours that would help camouflage the “change line”. This could also slow down the change-over, giving you time to get used to it all. Going natural is a change that some of us want to ease into…


A second idea, for those who have a lot of grey, would be to just “strip” out the colour from the dyed hair so it will blend with mostly white/grey roots as they grow out. I have a good friend who is using this approach, and it looks really nice! In similar fashion, some will colour their hair a light colour that will transition more easily to natural. Whatever you decide to do, a consultation with a talented hair colour specialist is always wise. They would certainly have more ideas and experience with all this than I do…


But I must add that I’ve been admiring the lovely natural-coloured styles that increasing numbers of women are sporting these days. Now that I’m paying more attention, I’m noticing so many women who are enjoying just being themselves when it comes to hair style and colour! Our own “freedom 50+”…


But now, back to my pre-supper appetizer of delicious crunchy almonds and tasty Spanish olives…

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Olives, almonds, jet-lag and hair…

It’s Friday again. Just sitting down to write my weekly blog from sunny Spain, after 2 long days of travel and a jet-lagged day of settling in. At least the trip seemed shorter this time, since I was able to sleep during 2 of the 3 flights!

Here are my “secrets” to help your flight seem shorter and to feel more rested when you arrive:

1. Get yourself some earplugs or put on a disconnected headset to muffle that crying baby or the chatty people who don’t realize they’re keeping others awake. If you’re a person who falls asleep to music, you could try playing a soothing quiet tune through the headset.

2. Use a mask to shade your eyes (this one wasn’t my idea… Air France provides these on overnight flights!). Darkness tells your brain it’s time to sleep.

3. Use a neck pillow to prevent your head from falling to one side when you fall asleep (a sudden shift in head position can easily wake you and a bad head angle is a recipe for a stiff neck!)

So, not rocket science, but little things can make a difference in how you feel when you arrive, if you think to prepare ahead!

My other tip is to set your watch to your arrival time zone when you’re halfway through your longest flight. I find it works best if you do this just before or after you take your nap. For me, it seems I can fool myself into changing time zones more easily if there’s sleep involved, since I never know how long I’ve slept until I look at the time! Might not work for you, but it helped me…

And, just to follow up with my “going grey”— above is my photo of “haircut #2”, taken on our balcony overlooking the Mediterranean. (Love it here!) I’m surprised that I look less grey than I expected, though… I guess it’s like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’ll get! Maybe I didn’t need to go quite as short as I did but it will be an easy “do” to keep up with while we’re visiting Espaňa.

I did have a question from a reader, though…what if you don’t want to cut your hair short to speed up the elimination of the dyed part? Two ideas if that’s you… First, if you’re mostly grey, you could colour the top layer platinum to match the roots, either all of the top or streaks/highlights depending on how grey your roots are. Platinum is a popular colour these days, even among younger women. Quite striking, actually! Leaving the underneath part would create a mixture of colours that would help camouflage the “change line”. This could also slow down the change-over, giving you time to get used to it all. Going natural is a change that some of us want to ease into…

A second idea, for those who have a lot of grey, would be to just “strip” out the colour from the dyed hair so it will blend with mostly white/grey roots as they grow out. I have a good friend who is using this approach, and it looks really nice! In similar fashion, some will colour their hair a light colour that will transition more easily to natural. Whatever you decide to do, a consultation with a talented hair colour specialist is always wise. They would certainly have more ideas and experience with all this than I do…

But I must add that I’ve been admiring the lovely natural-coloured styles that increasing numbers of women are sporting these days. Now that I’m paying more attention, I’m noticing so many women who are enjoying just being themselves when it comes to hair style and colour! Our own “freedom 50+”…

But now, back to my pre-supper appetizer of delicious crunchy almonds and tasty Spanish olives…

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You are what you eat… body and mind

Benalmadena on the Mediterranean Coast

Last week, I wrote about the importance of when you eat… but what you eat is also important to your health. A ranking of popular diets for 2020 ranked the traditional Mediterranean diet as #1. This rating was based on how nutritious and safe the diet is; how effective it is for weight loss; how easy it is to follow and stick with; and how well it protects against diabetes and heart disease. The Mediterranean diet is also recognized by the Mayo Clinic and World Health Organization as a healthy and sustainable dietary pattern.

Advantages of the Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet is a traditional way of eating that people living in counties in the Mediterranean area have followed for generations, rather than a constructed diet based on manipulating components of food. This diet has attracted attention because of the lower rates of heart disease and cancer in populations who follow it.

While other diets are better at losing weight more quickly, the Mediterranean diet helps maintain a healthy weight without severely limiting or removing entire food groups from your plate. This can make it much easier to follow long-term. Of course, weight loss or gain depends on how much of the recommended food you eat.

This diet includes a wide variety of foods, making it enjoyable and easy to follow, with just a few basic “rules” on what foods to choose most often.

And, with this diet, a glass or two of red wine along with your meal is acceptable and possibly even advantageous but, of course, not necessary if that’s your taste. For me, that’s a plus… a nice glass of red wine makes a meal more special!

What is the Mediterranean diet?

The Mediterranean diet is more of an eating pattern than a structured diet. It is a plant-based diet that emphasizes eating fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, legumes (lentils, peas, chickpeas, beans, soybeans, peanuts), olive oil and plenty of tasty herbs and spices (lessening the need for salt); and seafood at least twice a week; and poultry, eggs, cheese and yoghurt in moderation. Sweets and red meat are saved for special occasions. And a splash of red wine if that’s to your taste—the recommended amount is one glass a day for women and two for men. (I have often questioned why men are thought to be able to cope with twice what women can, given the often-small difference in body weight… but that’s a subject for another blog!)

Here is how the Mayo Clinic website describes the diet:

  • Daily consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and healthy fats (mainly olive oil)
  • Weekly intake of fish, poultry, beans and eggs
  • Moderate portions of dairy products
  • Limited intake of red meat

Find it tough to change the way you eat? McMaster University’s Optimal Aging Portal suggests starting with these 5 steps (Guess what? They recommend the Mediterranean diet too!):

  1. Please pass (up) the salt—reducing sodium (in salt) will help lower blood pressure which, in turn, will decrease your risk of heart disease. Try using herbs and spices for flavour instead. Note that many processed foods are high in salt.
  2. Nothing fishy about this advice—eat more salmon, mackerel, tuna and other fish high in omega-3 fatty acids. Don’t like fish? Try a fish oil supplement instead.
  3. Cut the (saturated) fat—red meat and dairy are generally higher in this type of fat. Reducing these and replacing with healthier unsaturated fats (found in plants and fish) can lower risk of heart disease.
  4. Choose a smaller plate—the size of your plate, food package, or portion you are offered (at home or in a restaurant) can influence how much you eat. Using a smaller plate and avoiding “super size” portions in restaurants can help avoid health risks associated with weight gain.
  5. Go Mediterranean—as discussed above, learn about the Mediterranean diet, where you are encouraged to eat more vegetables, fruit, fish, whole grains and unsaturated fats like olive oil. There is evidence that this diet can improve blood sugar, insulin and blood pressure as well as help you lose weight.

Diet can also affect mental health

What you eat can also influence your mental health. Nutritional psychiatry, the study of how food is connected to mental function and mood, is a new but interesting field that is working to determine the connections between our diet and our mental health.

What you eat directly affects the structure and function of your brain and, ultimately, your mood. For example, we know that the brain chemical, serotonin, affects mood and many drugs work by increasing this neurochemical. It is also linked to diseases like irritable bowel syndrome, cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke), and osteoporosis. And it helps regulate sleep and appetite, and inhibits pain. But 90-95% of serotonin is produced in the gut, not the brain!

We also know that what you eat influences the “good” bacteria in your intestines, your microbiome, and these bacteria activate nerve pathways directly between the gut and the brain, along with their many other effects on health that scientists are currently identifying. Studies show that taking probiotic supplements can lower anxiety levels and perception of stress, and improve mental outlook, when compared to those not taking the supplements. Many traditional diets contain fermented foods, which act to improve the microbiome in the same manner as probiotic supplements.

As well, diets high in refined sugars and processed foods, like the typical Western diet, worsen symptoms of mood disorders, such as depression, promote inflammation and oxidative stress causing harm to the brain and other parts of the body.

So, consider trying a traditional diet like the Mediterranean diet for 2 or 3 weeks. Think about adding a few fermented foods—experts suggest 5 servings a week of 3 different kinds—and see how it makes you feel.

The field of nutritional psychiatry is relatively new, but it makes sense that what we eat can affect how we feel as well as our overall health. Remember, you are what you eat!

References:

Best Diets Overall—US News

Nutrition and healthy eating—Mayo Clinic

Adopt a Mediterranean diet now for better health later—Harvard Health Publishing

5 Diet changes supported by evidence—McMaster University’s Optimal Aging Portal

Does diet influence mental health-Assessing the evidence—Medical News Today

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Health

You are what you eat…body and mind

Last week, I wrote about the importance of when you eat… but what you eat is also important to your health. A ranking of popular diets for 2020 ranked the traditional Mediterranean diet as #1. This rating was based on how nutritious and safe the diet is; how effective it is for weight loss; how easy it is to follow and stick with; and how well it protects against diabetes and heart disease. The Mediterranean diet is also recognized by the Mayo Clinic and World Health Organization as a healthy and sustainable dietary pattern.

Advantages of the Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet is a traditional way of eating that people living in counties in the Mediterranean area have followed for generations, rather than a constructed diet based on manipulating components of food. This diet has attracted attention because of the lower rates of heart disease and cancer in populations who follow it.

While other diets are better at losing weight more quickly, the Mediterranean diet helps maintain a healthy weight without severely limiting or removing entire food groups from your plate. This can make it much easier to follow long-term. Of course, weight loss or gain depends on how much of the recommended food you eat.

This diet includes a wide variety of foods, making it enjoyable and easy to follow, with just a few basic “rules” on what foods to choose most often.

And, with this diet, a glass or two of red wine along with your meal is acceptable and possibly even advantageous but, of course, not necessary if that’s your taste. For me, that’s a plus… a nice glass of red wine makes a meal more special!

What is the Mediterranean diet?

The Mediterranean diet is more of an eating pattern than a structured diet. It is a plant-based diet that emphasizes eating fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, legumes (lentils, peas, chickpeas, beans, soybeans, peanuts), olive oil and plenty of tasty herbs and spices (lessening the need for salt); and seafood at least twice a week; and poultry, eggs, cheese and yogurt in moderation. Sweets and red meat are saved for special occasions. And a splash of red wine if that’s to your taste—the recommended amount is one glass a day for women and two for men. (I have often questioned why men are thought to be able to cope with twice what women can, given the often-small difference in body weight… but that’s a subject for another blog!)

Here is how the Mayo Clinic website describes the diet:

· Daily consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and healthy fats (mainly olive oil)

· Weekly intake of fish, poultry, beans and eggs

· Moderate portions of dairy products

· Limited intake of red meat

Find it tough to change the way you eat?

McMaster University’s Optimal Aging Portal suggests starting with these 5 steps (Guess what? They recommend the Mediterranean diet too!):

1. Please pass (up) the salt—reducing sodium (in salt) will help lower blood pressure which, in turn, will decrease your risk of heart disease. Try using herbs and spices for flavour instead. Note that many processed foods are high in salt.

2. Nothing fishy about this advice—eat more salmon, mackerel, tuna and other fish high in omega-3 fatty acids. Don’t like fish? Try a fish oil supplement instead.

3. Cut the (saturated) fat—red meat and dairy are generally higher in this type of fat. Reducing these and replacing with healthier unsaturated fats (found in plants and fish) can lower risk of heart disease.

4. Choose a smaller plate—the size of your plate, food package, or portion you are offered (at home or in a restaurant) can influence how much you eat. Using a smaller plate and avoiding “super size” portions in restaurants can help avoid health risks associated with weight gain.

5. Go Mediterranean—as discussed above, learn about the Mediterranean diet, where you are encouraged to eat more vegetables, fruit, fish, whole grains and unsaturated fats like olive oil. There is evidence that this diet can improve blood sugar, insulin and blood pressure as well as help you lose weight.

Diet can also affect mental health

What you eat can also influence your mental health. Nutritional psychiatry, the study of how food is connected to mental function and mood, is a new but interesting field that is working to determine the connections between our diet and our mental health.

What you eat directly affects the structure and function of your brain and, ultimately, your mood. For example, we know that the brain chemical, serotonin, affects mood and many drugs work by increasing this neurochemical. It is also linked to diseases like irritable bowel syndrome, cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke), and osteoporosis. And it helps regulate sleep and appetite, and inhibits pain. But 90-95% of serotonin is produced in the gut, not the brain!

We also know that what you eat influences the “good” bacteria in your intestines, your microbiome, and these bacteria activate nerve pathways directly between the gut and the brain, along with their many other effects on health that scientists are currently identifying. Studies show that taking probiotic supplements can lower anxiety levels and perception of stress, and improve mental outlook, when compared to those not taking the supplements. Many traditional diets contain fermented foods, which act to improve the microbiome in the same manner as probiotic supplements.

As well, diets high in refined sugars and processed foods, like the typical Western diet, worsen symptoms of mood disorders, such as depression, promote inflammation and oxidative stress causing harm to the brain and other parts of the body.

So, consider trying a traditional diet like the Mediterranean diet for 2 or 3 weeks. Think about adding a few fermented foods—experts suggest 5 servings a week of 3 different kinds—and see how it makes you feel.

The field of nutritional psychiatry is relatively new, but it makes sense that what we eat can affect how we feel as well as our overall health. Remember, you are what you eat!

References:

Best Diets Overall—US News

Nutrition and healthy eating—Mayo Clinic

Gut microbes important for serotonin production—Medical News Today

Adopt a Mediterranean diet now for better health later—Harvard Health Publishing

5 Diet changes supported by evidence—McMaster University’s Optimal Aging Portal

Does diet influence mental health? Assessing the evidence–Medical News Today

#Mediterraneandiet #mentalhealth #bestdiet

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The IF diet

When we eat may be more important than what we eat, scientists are saying. Time-restricted eating, limiting the hours when we eat, may be the answer to the many controversial diets that just don’t work. Do you have a few extra pounds you’d like to shed? I do! Read on to learn about the IF diet, a way of eating that doesn’t require counting calories or eliminating food groups, and has health benefits beyond just maintaining a healthy weight.

In lab animals, less energy intake results in increased life span. This has long been known by scientists. Energy intake can be lowered by eating less at each meal or by intermittent fasting, in other words, eating less frequently. It turns out that this good for your brain too.

Certain religions include fasting regimens in their traditions, and many famous historical figures, such as Plato and Ghandi, fasted regularly. Plato claimed that going hungry improved his ability to think. A quote from 3800 BC written on the wall of an Egyptian pyramid says, “Humans live on ¼ of what they eat; their doctors live on the other ¾.” It seems unlikely that humans throughout history ate and snacked throughout the day as most of us do.

Time-restricted eating

Intermittent fasting (IF), also called time-restricted eating, involves withholding food for a period, then eating normally. Effective fasting can last from as little as 14 hours a day, to one or two days a week, to one week a month. All regimens show benefits to health.

Firstly, intermittent fasting helps to control weight. That makes sense as you are likely cutting out snacking that you might normally have done during those hours. Excess weight is a risk for age-related cognitive impairment (possibly including Alzheimer’s disease) as well as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, certain cancers, and more. Many find intermittent fasting to be more effective in controlling weight than many other diets.

Secondly, fasting helps improve brain function. Nerve cells are more active when you’re hungry. Brain cells are challenged by the restriction in calories and react to become more efficient and form protective mechanisms. Fasting stimulates the production of proteins that promote growth and strengthen connections of brain cells. These proteins are called neurotrophic factors. An important one is BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor). Cognitive challenges (like puzzles or learning a new language), and exercise also increase production of these same proteins.

When you exceed 12 hours without ingesting any food, sugar levels become depleted and your body turns to using fat for energy. Ketones are produced when fat is burned for fuel and ketones are good for the brain. For example, a ketogenic diet is used to treat some forms of epilepsy, as ketones suppress seizures.

The BDNF protein increases the numbers of mitochondria (our cells’ energy factories) in the brain. This provides more energy for brain cells, an increased ability to form and maintain connections in the brain (which improves memory and ability to think), and an increased ability to repair damage to the DNA of cells, preventing cell aging.

So, scientists say 3 meals a day plus snacks is not the healthiest eating pattern. Mark Mattson, PhD at the National Institute on Aging at NIH, suggested that the statement: “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” is not true and may have been a marketing ploy to sell breakfast foods! He has done extensive research into the pros and cons of intermittent fasting and published the results in the Journal of the American Medical Society (JAMA). Here is his list of benefits of intermittent fasting on the body and the brain:

· Blood—decreased insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and leptin; increased ketones, adiponectin and ghrelin (hunger hormones that control appetite and energy balance)

· Liver—increased insulin sensitivity and ketone production; decreased IGF-1

· Intestines—decreased energy uptake, reduced inflammation, reduced cell proliferation

· Brain—improved cognitive function, increased neurotrophic factors, increased stress resistance, reduced inflammation

· Heart—decreased resting heart rate, decreased blood pressure, increased stress resistance

· Fat cells—lipolysis (fat breakdown), decreased leptin, increased adiponectin, decreased inflammation

· Muscle—increased insulin sensitivity, increased efficiency, decreased inflammation

Intermittent fasting promotes fat burning and the production of beneficial ketones. As well, the “housecleaning” system in humans that cleans out dead cells and other toxic and inflammatory substances, called autophagy, only activates when the bowels are not absorbing nutrients. Avoiding food for at least 12 hours is necessary to activate this essential cleaning system.

A word of caution…

If you have any chronic health condition, are elderly or for children, be sure to discuss this diet with your doctor before trying it. It is also recommended to begin slowly, for example, starting with 12 or 13 hours a day and increasing the time without food by one hour at a time to allow your body to adjust. Water, and black coffee or tea are allowed during periods of fasting and it is recommended to stay well hydrated.

Considering the potential health benefits of restricting calorie intake, I plan to shift my breakfast to a noon brunch and make sure I have my supper by 8pm, keeping my meals and snacks to an 8-hour slot each day. This seems to me to be the easiest way to take advantage of the many health benefits of intermittent fasting found by scientists. But some people may prefer to gain the same benefits by eating normally for 5 to 6 days a week and fasting (up to 500 calories per day) on the remaining days. This is sometimes referred to as the “5:2 diet” but, to me, this sounds like it would be much more difficult to adapt to.

With the intermittent diet, it’s not necessary to count calories or restrict any particular type of food, such as fats or carbohydrates. However, it’s always recommended to eat foods in their whole natural state and avoid highly processed foods as much as possible. And, again, talk to your doctor if you have any health concerns. This includes hard-to-control diabetes, children or adolescents, those over 70, pregnancy, chronic heart or kidney disease, low body mass (BMI), frailty or recent hospitalization, or history of an eating disorder.

If you are interested in learning more about the IF (Intermittent Fasting) diet, here are some sources of information:

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Making connections…

Although it’s a common belief that older adults are more likely to be lonely, since many of them live alone, researchers found a spike in numbers of people reporting loneliness in their late 20’s and mid-50’s as well as in their late 80’s. Loneliness can occur at any age.

Loneliness is a deeply personal experience, unique to every individual—a problem with different causes and consequences for each affected person. A person can be socially isolated (having few social relationships and contacts) but not experience loneliness (the negative emotion of having fewer and lower quality relationships than we want and need to be happy).

Sometimes people can be lonelier in a busy community than in rural areas. A person can be alone and not feel lonely, but can be in a crowd and feel alone. A full three-quarters of participants in a California study of community dwellers reported moderate to high levels of loneliness. Since loneliness is known to affect people’s health, similar to smoking 15 cigarettes a day, the researchers wanted to learn more.

They found 3 factors were increased in people who reported they were lonely (listed in order of impact): having lower levels of emotional “wisdom”, living alone, and having a diagnosis of a mental or physical illness. Wisdom was defined as having several components: empathy (being able to feel the emotions of others), compassion/altruism (selfless concern for others), a sense of fairness, insight into the feelings of others, acceptance of others’ values and opinions, and decisiveness (the ability to make quick, effective decisions when necessary).

In the UK, health authorities recognize the toll loneliness is taking in older people, increasing risk of onset of disability and cognitive decline leading to dementia. They have started a campaign to end loneliness in the elderly, treating it as a public health issue. The challenge of any community is to reach lonely individuals, to understand the nature of the person’s loneliness, to develop a personalized response (since each individual has different needs) and to support them in their access to the services they need. While this has the greatest overall effect when done at the community level, it is also an effective way to help someone you suspect is lonely. You can read more about the UK approach to ending loneliness here.

I decided to write a Christmas letter this year. Although it’s a long-standing tradition of mine to communicate at least once a year to friends and family I don’t see often, I hadn’t written a Christmas letter for a few years. So, this week I sent it off, a few by snail mail but most of them simply by email. In true “blogging” fashion, I asked the recipients to do something (called a Call to Action in the blogging world…). At the end of my letter, I asked them to send a hello back to me if we hadn’t spoken in a while. And I have been delighted to hear back from quite a few. What a great way to reconnect and start a conversation again!

Now, I’m sure my little action wouldn’t cure anyone’s loneliness, but staying connected to friends and family is a first step in the right direction, both for you and for those you contact. It’s so easy to do now, too, with emails, videoconferencing (like Skype, Facetime) and texting or even with a good old-fashioned telephone.

So, this holiday season, my “Call to Action” to you is to reach out to friends and family, whether old or young, that you may not have contacted for a while. Find out what’s new in their lives and show you care about them. ‘Tis the season…

References:

Serious Loneliness Spans the Adult Lifespan but there is a Silver Lining

Campaign to End Loneliness

High prevalence and adverse health effects of loneliness in community-dwelling adults across the lifespan: role of wisdom as a protective factor

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Suddenly dizzy? Might be vertigo…

Know anyone who’s had vertigo? It’s more common than you might think, especially among the “over 60” crowd.

Vertigo is a sensation of spinning and loss of balance. While it can be associated with looking down from a great height, it can also be caused by disease or condition affecting the inner ear. The most common type of vertigo is called BPPV…

  • Benign (not cancerous)

  • Paroxysmal (comes and goes, and doesn’t last long—usually less than a minute)

  • Positional (triggered by moving the head in a certain position or direction)

  • Vertigo (dizziness, sensation your surroundings or the inside of your head are spinning)

    • Often accompanied by nausea

    • Affects women twice as often as men

I just had a bout of it, and it’s not much fun…a bit scary, actually. But it stopped so quickly–in about 10 seconds–I didn’t think it could be a serious problem (and it isn’t for most people). Of course, dizziness can be a sign of other problems, some quite serious, so it’s a good idea to discuss your dizziness with your doctor if you start to experience this.

BPPV vertigo usually only lasts for a week or two. It’s diagnosed by first eliminating anything more serious, and by getting you to lay back with your head 45 degrees to one side. You may need to repeat the movement with your head to the other side. If it’s vertigo, your eyes will start to move back and forth, as they do after you’ve spun yourself around enough to feel dizzy, and this movement will trigger the feeling of dizziness. This eye movement is called nystagmus.

Vertigo originates in part of the inner ear called the semicircular canals (note the top loopy part of the purple structure in the diagram above). As the name suggests, these are 3 semicircular loops filled with liquid and, when we turn, tiny hairs that line the loops can sense the movement of the liquid inside the loops. Your brain uses this information to sense what direction your head is moving, even when your eyes are closed or you’re inside a plane or large ship.

There are tiny crystals, called otoliths, attached to the base of the semicircular canals. When one of these breaks off and enters a canal, its movement (controlled by gravity when you lay down or turn quickly) can confuse the tiny hairs that detect movement of liquid in the canals. This can make you feel like you’re moving when you are not, creating the dizziness in BPPV vertigo. It usually takes only a few seconds for the crystal to fall to the bottom of the canal, and that is why BPPV vertigo only lasts a short time. I posted a video below that explains it better…

Treatments

One of the treatments for BPPV vertigo uses this information. The patient is helped through a series of movements designed to move a loose crystal (otolith) out of the affected canal. It’s not difficult to do and can be repeated as needed, once you understand the movements. It is called the Epley manoeuvre. Here’s a link to a video that demonstrates this and the theory of the crystal movement.

A few medications are available to treat vertigo, although they are more commonly used with longer-lasting types like Meniere’s disease. One medication is Betahistine (brand name Serc), a type of antihistamine that some find helpful, although its effectiveness has been questioned. Another is a combination of Meclizine (antihistamine) and low-dose Niacin (vitamin B3), formerly available as Antivert tablets, but now discontinued. However, the individual ingredients, Meclizine and Niacin, are still available and can be bought without prescription in most countries. Meclizine is usually on the pharmacy shelf next to the Gravol or is sometimes kept behind the pharmacy counter. Niacin is found in the vitamin section, and you would take only 1/2 of a 100mg tablet. A compounding pharmacist could make this combination into capsules for you, and I often made these in my pharmacy. However, since episodes of BPPV vertigo are so short and usually last only 1 to 2 weeks, these medications are generally reserved for other types of dizziness, such as Meniere’s disease or labyrinthitis.

What causes otolith crystals to dislodge, causing BPPV?

BPPV can be caused by a minor injury to the head, but it can occur without an injury, as it did to me. Some drugs are reported to increase the chance of developing vertigo, and medication should always be considered if there is no obvious cause. The list includes some very common drugs, such as codeine, prednisone, omeprazole (Losec), furosemide (Lasix), melatonin and many others. Here is a link to a good reference about this.

I had just started using a new medication and, although it isn’t included on the list, I believe it caused my vertigo. Here are my reasons: the medication I started using is the corticosteroid, budesonide, and it is in the same drug family as prednisone (which is on the list). Although the product is designed to be inhaled as a treatment for asthma in children, my prescription was to mix it with saline and use it as a sinus rinse (neti pot). This is an “off label” use for this product, meaning that it has not been tested or approved for this use. It is similar to corticosteroid nasal sprays that are commercially available, however, but stronger and generally used this way only short-term for inflamed sinuses, when regular sprays have failed.

My vertigo started when I’d been using the new medication for about 3 weeks. It gradually improved over a couple of days when I stopped the medication and got worse again when I restarted it. When I stopped it a second time, the vertigo improved again over a few days and hasn’t returned. However, I have been left with tinnitus, ringing of the ears, that 3 weeks later is still a nuisance (especially at night, when it’s quiet). So, a bit of an experiment, but it convinced me that the medication is a problem for me.

But the experience has left me wondering whether others have developed vertigo after using budesonide as a nasal rinse. One problem with “off label” use of drugs is that adverse reactions are often not reported as they would have been while being tested for official approval. I will ask my doctor about this when I see him at my upcoming appointment.

So, have you ever had vertigo? Was the cause identified? Could it have been caused by a medication you were using? I’d love to hear about it…click the Questions/Comments button and send me an email!

References (click to link to article):

Epley manoeuvre

Medicine-induced Vertigo—Medsafe, New Zealand

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo—Wikipedia

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Health

Coffee…for diabetes, Parkinson’s, liver and more?

I love my morning coffee, so I “perk up” whenever I see a study that suggests this habit is a good thing! Are you a coffee lover too? Then read on…

Overall, coffee drinkers were found to have more health benefits than risks from their habit, compared to those who did not drink any coffee. The average daily intake in those who were studied was 3 to 4 cups per day compared to no coffee daily, although some studies looked at how health changed in the years after people increased or decreased their coffee intake by a cup or two.

5 Benefits of coffee

  1. Coffee and diabetes—a 2014 study followed over 123,000 people for 4 years. Those who increased their daily coffee intake by 1 cup per day had an 11% lower chance of developing Type 2 diabetes. Those who decreased their coffee consumption (by an average of 2 cups per day) had a 17% higher risk for Type 2 diabetes. Changes in tea drinking were not linked to diabetes risk.

  2. Coffee and Parkinson’s disease—Several studies suggest that caffeine, whether in coffee or other drinks, may help decrease risk of developing Parkinson’s. One analysis determined that men who drink 4 or more coffees per day may have 1/5 the risk of those who do not. Another study in 2012 suggests that the caffeine in coffee may help control movement in people with Parkinson’s. Another study in 2017, that found a link between coffee intake and Parkinson’s, also noted coffee drinkers may be less likely to develop depression and dementias like Alzheimer’s as well. However, there wasn’t evidence to show that drinking decaf coffee would help prevent Parkinson’s.

  3. Coffee and liver diseases—Researchers in Italy found that coffee decreases risk of liver cancer by about 40%. Their numbers suggest those who drink 3 cups a day may have 50% decreased risk of liver cancer. A different literature review in 2019 concluded that “coffee intake probably reduces the risk of liver cancer”. Another large analysis in 2017 found coffee also appeared to decrease risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cirrhosis, as well as liver cancer.

  4. Coffee and heart health—We often think negatively of coffee when it comes to heart health, since people are advised not to drink it just before measuring their blood pressure. But drinking coffee in moderation, two 8-ounce servings per day, may protect against heart failure (when the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs), according to a 2012 study. They found an 11% lower risk of heart failure in those who drank this moderate amount versus those who drank none. Another analysis in 2017 found that those who drank 4 to 6 cups of either caffeinated or decaf coffee daily appeared to have a lower risk of Metabolic Syndrome—in other words, they had lower blood pressure, lower blood cholesterol, and lower blood sugar—and this included a decreased occurrence of Type 2 diabetes.

  5. Overall health—An umbrella study in 2017, using combined data from 218 other analyses of studies, found coffee consumption seems generally safe within usual daily amounts. It showed the largest risk reduction in those who drank 3 to 4 cups daily and that coffee is more likely to benefit health than harm it. Mortality from any cause was reduced by 17% in these coffee drinkers.

An exception to the benefit of coffee is during pregnancy, when drinking more coffee could result in low birth weight of the baby (31% greater relative risk), increased risk of pregnancy loss (an increase of 46%) and increased chance of preterm birth (12-22%). Another exception is for women at risk of bone fractures (but not men for some reason…). Increased coffee was associated with an increased risk of breaking a bone only in women. Their recommendation was for women already at risk of a bone fracture to avoid coffee.

So, I guess I can happily continue my morning coffee—no risk of pregnancy for me and my risk of bone fracture is low! I usually enjoy 3 cups as I peruse the morning news and emails, and check Facebook for photos of what my wonderful granddaughters are up to! Hmmm…must be time for cup #3…

PLEASE NOTE: A little clarification on the numbers in this blog. The percentages in this article are “relative risk” numbers not overall risk. They compare risk with the factor to risk without it. For example, a relative risk increase of 50% could mean 10% without the risk factor have the condition compared to 15% with it…or 0.01 vs 0.015%. “Actual risk” numbers were not quoted in my references, only the percentage increase in risk.)

References:

Health benefits and risks of drinking coffee https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/270202.php#benefits

Changes in coffee intake and subsequent risk of type 2 diabetes: three large cohorts of US men and women https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00125-014-3235-7

Coffee consumption and health: umbrella review of meta-analyses of multiple health outcomes https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5696634/

Categories
Health

Coffee…for diabetes, Parkinson’s, liver and more?

I love my morning coffee, so I “perk up” whenever I see a study that suggests this habit is a good thing! Are you a coffee lover too? Then read on…

Overall, coffee drinkers were found to have more health benefits than risks from their habit, compared to those who did not drink any coffee. The average daily intake in those who were studied was 3 to 4 cups per day compared to no coffee daily, although some studies looked at how health changed in the years after people increased or decreased their coffee intake by a cup or two.

5 Benefits of coffee

  1. Coffee and diabetes—a 2014 study followed over 123,000 people for 4 years. Those who increased their daily coffee intake by 1 cup per day had an 11% lower chance of developing Type 2 diabetes. Those who decreased their coffee consumption (by an average of 2 cups per day) had a 17% higher risk for Type 2 diabetes. Changes in tea drinking were not linked to diabetes risk.
  2. Coffee and Parkinson’s disease—Several studies suggest that caffeine, whether in coffee or other drinks, may help decrease risk of developing Parkinson’s. One analysis determined that men who drink 4 or more coffees per day may have 1/5 the risk of those who do not. Another study in 2012 suggests that the caffeine in coffee may help control movement in people with Parkinson’s. Another study in 2017, that found a link between coffee intake and Parkinson’s, also noted coffee drinkers may be less likely to develop depression and dementias like Alzheimer’s as well. However, there wasn’t evidence to show that drinking decaf coffee would help prevent Parkinson’s.
  3. Coffee and liver diseases—Researchers in Italy found that coffee decreases risk of liver cancer by about 40%. Their numbers suggest those who drink 3 cups a day may have 50% decreased risk of liver cancer. A different literature review in 2019 concluded that “coffee intake probably reduces the risk of liver cancer”. Another large analysis in 2017 found coffee also appeared to decrease risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cirrhosis, as well as liver cancer.
  4. Coffee and heart health—We often think negatively of coffee when it comes to heart health, since people are advised not to drink it just before measuring their blood pressure. But drinking coffee in moderation, two 8-ounce servings per day, may protect against heart failure (when the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs), according to a 2012 study. They found an 11% lower risk of heart failure in those who drank this moderate amount versus those who drank none. Another analysis in 2017 found that those who drank 4 to 6 cups of either caffeinated or decaf coffee daily appeared to have a lower risk of Metabolic Syndrome—in other words, they had lower blood pressure, lower blood cholesterol, and lower blood sugar—and this included a decreased occurrence of Type 2 diabetes.
  5. Overall health—An umbrella study in 2017, using combined data from 218 other analyses of studies, found coffee consumption seems generally safe within usual daily amounts. It showed the largest risk reduction in those who drank 3 to 4 cups daily and that coffee is more likely to benefit health than harm it. Mortality from any cause was reduced by 17% in these coffee drinkers.

An exception to the benefit of coffee is during pregnancy, when drinking more coffee could result in low birth weight of the baby (31% greater relative risk), increased risk of pregnancy loss (an increase of 46%) and increased chance of preterm birth (12-22%). Another exception is for women at risk of bone fractures (but not men for some reason…). Increased coffee was associated with an increased risk of breaking a bone only in women. Their recommendation was for women already at risk of a bone fracture to avoid coffee.

So, I guess I can happily continue my morning coffee—no risk of pregnancy for me and my risk of bone fracture is low! I usually enjoy 3 cups as I peruse the morning news and emails, and check Facebook for photos of what my wonderful granddaughters are up to! Hmmm…must be time for cup #3…

PLEASE NOTE: A little clarification on the numbers in this blog. The percentages in this article are “relative risk” numbers not overall risk. They compare risk with the factor to risk without it. For example, a relative risk increase of 50% could mean 10% without the risk factor have the condition compared to 15% with it…or 0.01 vs 0.015%. “Actual risk” numbers were not quoted in my references, only the percentage increase in risk.)

References:

Health benefits and risks of drinking coffee https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/270202.php#benefits

Changes in coffee intake and subsequent risk of type 2 diabetes: three large cohorts of US men and women https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00125-014-3235-7

Coffee consumption and health: umbrella review of meta-analyses of multiple health outcomes https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5696634/

#Coffee #Diabetes #Parkinsons #Liverdisease

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Health

The Curve of Forgetting

The University of Waterloo has done some interesting research about how we can help ourselves remember better. Of course, they did this to help their students be more successful. But we can use this information to remember better too.

An example:

Here is the problem, using the example of a student attending a 1-hour lecture:

  • At the end of the hour: you know 100% of whatever you learned in that hour

  • Day 2: you will have lost 50 to 80% of what you learned (that is, if you don’t think about it, use it or re-read it)

  • Day 7: you will have forgotten up to 90% of what you learned

  • Day 30: you likely remember only 2 to 3% of the original material

If information is not used or retrieved from our memory in some way, the brain decides it is not important and dumps it to make “room” for other more necessary or useful information.

We can change this! Reprocessing the information reinforces its importance to our subconscious mind. Essentially, doing something (anything!) with the information we are trying to learn strengthens brain cell connections that store and retrieve this information. Information can also be retrieved (or remembered) more quickly with repeated reinforcement.

Here is a formula University of Waterloo suggests:

Spending 10 minutes within 24 hours of first learning an hour of information restores memory to almost 100%; 5 minutes seven days later reactivates the same information; and 2 to 4 minutes 30 days later is all your brain needs to say “yes, I remember”. Without any review of the material, though, you would need 40 to 50 minutes to read and re-learn everything after 30 days.

This is why the University of Waterloo recommends that their students spend 30 minutes each day reviewing the previous day’s lessons and 1.5 to 2 hours each weekend and reviewing material that was learned 7 days before and 30 days before.

This works well for the student example, where most students take notes or study from textbooks and these provide a source for review. But what about us “post grads” who just want to remember what we read or learn?

Helping our “mid-life” brain to remember…

The answer is to find a way to reinforce the knowledge you think is important to remember and not just let your brain decide subconsciously. This could be done by making a note to re-read an article or book with the information you want to remember, by discussing it afterward with someone, or by writing notes so you can re-read it later (as I do when I blog).

Another way is to reinforce memory is to use the information in some way. Even playing a game with the information can work to strengthen the memory. I use this technique daily to help remember Spanish vocabulary, using the free online game Duolingo. It’s amazing how 15 minutes a day is helping me to learn and remember words in another language!

Teaching someone else is also an excellent way to learn and retain information. Explaining it helps you really understand the subject plus you need to retrieve a high a percentage of the information in order to teach it well. I often do this with my hubby…explaining what I’ve read helps me to organize my thoughts around a subject. I think it drives him crazy sometimes though – he isn’t always interested in the same topics I am. He sometimes says, “Just pretend I’m listening…” But that works too. Just saying it out loud helps to organize and store the information in your brain.

More information is retained in your memory when you use more senses so reading, seeing images or video, hearing, and using the information all help, as opposed to simply reading. Handwriting notes rather than typing has also been shown to help memory for this same reason: using more senses. Using a pen or pencil, rather than a keyboard, also makes you slow down a bit and think about what you’re writing, since you don’t have a back-space key!

And when you want to forget?

On the other hand, if you want to forget something the worst thing you can do is focus on it. Deal with a negative or unpleasant event as best you can then put it out of your thoughts and focus on something positive and pleasant. You always remember what you focus on most.

Reference:

Campus Wellness–Waterloo University